William Meyer was born in Memphis, Tennessee in July 1926 and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. He had two younger brothers. His father worked in the dairy business and therefore they were fairly comfortable during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States]. Meyer worked on a farm during the summers. When he was around 16 years old, he was playing football in the backyard with some friends when he first heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Meyer felt he was ready go and get the war over and done with. As soon as he turned 18 in July of 1944, Meyer volunteered to be drafted right away. He was called to active duty in August and spent about a month at Camp Campbell, Kentucky. While he was there, he was inducted into the Army, received shots, learned about KP [Annotator’s Note: kitchen patrol], and marching. He was then sent to Fort Wolters, Texas for fifteen weeks of basic training. The weather was hot during the day and cold at night. Basic training was hard. He was trained as a rifleman. He qualified on the M1 rifle [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] and thought it was a good weapon. He also went on maneuvers. In late December 1944, Meyer boarded a transport ship and headed to Europe. The accommodations on the ship were cramped with bunks. He played a lot of games and ate plenty of food. He did not get seasick and was thankful for that. He went ashore in Southampton [Annotator’s Note: Southampton, England] on 1 January 1945, and recalled the weather to be dark and rainy, so he could not see very much. He then went by train to Liverpool [Annotator’s Note: Liverpool, England].

William Meyer spent a total of about 24 hours in England before being put aboard another ship and crossing the Channel [Annotator’s Note: the English channel] to France. In Le Havre [Annotator’s Note: Le Havre, France], Meyer and the other replacements were put on two and a half ton trucks [Annotator's Note: two and a half ton, six by six truck, also known as deuce and a half] and taken to Liege, Belgium. There, Meyer was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 309th Infantry Regiment, 78th Infantry Division as an infantry replacement. He joined the 78th ID on the front lines in the Hurtgen Forest during the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. He did not have enough clothing to keep warm. To Meyer, the German artillery was the worst part of the fighting in the Hurtgen Forest. During the two weeks he was there, he never fired a shot at an enemy soldier. They spent their time advancing and then falling back. They repeated this countless times during the battle. To make things worse, it was incredibly cold and snowed a lot making digging in all but impossible. After three weeks in the Hurtgen Forest, his unit was finally able to move out of the area. He lost a lot of friends in the Hurtgen Forest. His unit came up to a bombed out farm house and went into a nearby shed. They saw the bodies of G.I.s [Annotator's Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier] stacked up like firewood in the corner. [Annotator’s Note: phone rings in background at 0:24:17.000 and then can hear a woman talking in background.] He described the forest terrain and how you could see easily through the pine trees. Sometimes he was assigned to go on patrol during the night. He was so scared going on patrol because of all the noises he heard at night. He did not hate the Germans because he came from a German background. If a German came near him, he would shoot him, but he knew not all the Germans were in the SS [Annotator's Note: Schutzstaffel; German paramilitary organization] or loved Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler].

[Annotator’s Note: There is background noise throughout this segment.] William Meyer was assigned as a rifleman with the 309th Infantry Regiment, 78th Infantry Division which captured intact the vital Schwammenauel Dam and then advanced crossed the Roer River. The Germans made it difficult because they blocked the tunnels and booby trapped other parts. His unit was put on patrol and captured some prisoners. Several days later, Meyer was on patrol. He slid down the dam and heard the Germans shooting and igniting flares. Meyer and the rest of the patrol headed back to their camp. They caught some Germans by surprise and brought them back as prisoners. After capturing the dam, the weather started to warm up a bit. They stayed in a nearby town called Schmidt [Annotator’s Note: Schmidt, Germany]. Meyer and a couple of others decided to walk into town and go to service, however some Germans came driving down the road, so Meyer had to jump in a ditch to avoid being seen. On 19 February 1945, he was given orders to head up a hill and patrol the area. As he walked up the hill, he saw a bouncing betty [Annotator's Note: German S-mine, Schrapnellmine, Springmine or Splittermine] coming right for him. It exploded and knocked him to the ground. He knew he was hit, but did not know where. Finally, a medic came over and told him he had a hole in his leg. He was loaded into a jeep and taken to a medical tent, and then shipped to Le Mans [Annotator’s Note: Le Mans, France]. They located the shrapnel in his leg and removed it, and then sent him to Paris [Annotator’s Note: Paris, France]. He stayed there some time until he was given approval to go back to his unit. On his return, he fell ill and his leg became infected. He went back to the hospital for another two months to let the wound heal. He was finally released from the hospital. He was given new clothes and equipment and sent to a replacement station. He reported to his unit in Bonn [Annotator’s Note: Bonn, Germany] and was assigned to a military police unit. For the rest of his time in Europe, he was responsible for guarding German prisoners, installations, posts, outposts, and directing traffic. His unit moved from one small town to the next until he reached Berlin [Annotator’s Note: Berlin, Germany] for occupation duty. He was given a motorcycle to escort the generals. He was later issued a jeep because there were too many potholes in the streets. While he was in the hospital, he met some German prisoners and got to know them well.

William Meyer was assigned as a rifleman with the 309th Infantry Regiment, 78th Infantry Division. Near the ed of the war, he heard about the concentration camps and thought it was unbelievable. While he was in the hospital, a German prisoner told Meyer that President Roosevelt died [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States, died 12 April 1945]. The war ended in Germany by the time he was released from the hospital. There was a possibility that he was going to be sent to the Pacific. After the war in Germany ended, Meyer wanted a break from war and wanted to go home. He decided to reenlist in the Army so that he could receive a 30 day leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] back to the United States. He took a Liberty ship [Annotator's Note: a class of quickly produced cargo ship] home and the voyage was very rough due to the weather. He then went to Camp Myles Standish in Boston [Annotator’s Note: Boston, Massachusetts]. He was so happy to be back in America. He was discharged as a corporal from the 78th Infantry Military Police unit. Meyer re-enlisted and was sent to Fort Meade in the finance division of the 3rd Infantry Division where his friend was also serving. Meyer came home with a couple of souvenirs including a pistol he took from a dead German soldier who was lying in the snow. The most difficult part about combat in the Hurtgen Forest was the cold weather, not knowing what he was supposed to be doing, and the constant shelling from the Germans. He received plenty of rations but not any hot meals.

[Annotator’s Note: There is talking in the background throughout this segment.] William Meyer was assigned as a rifleman with the 309th Infantry Regiment, 78th Infantry Division. He felt the German equipment and weapons were much better than the Americans’ equipment. He never came across any SS troops [Annotator's Note: Schutzstaffel; German paramilitary organization; abbreviated SS]. During his combat experience, he never saw a civilian. When his unit went through towns, all the civilians had vacated the area. [Annotator’s Note: Telephone rings in background at 1:05:36.000.] Meyer was knocked down to the ground and his leg was injured when he came across a mine one day. He received excellent care from the hospitals and the Red Cross[Annotator's Note: Red Cross, an international non-profit humanitarian organization] in Paris [Annotator’s Note: Paris, France]. He was taken care of by several American nurses. While he was in Paris, he visited the Eiffel Tower before heading back to his unit. When he returned to his unit, the war in Germany had ended and he was assigned to the military police. He did patrols with the British, French, and Russians. He monitored night clubs, the black market, and different areas of Berlin [Annotator’s Note: Berlin, Germany]. [Annotator’s Note: phone rings at 1:12:11.000.] He was given orders not to fraternize with the Germans, and so he did not make much contact with them while he was in Berlin. Meyer held no animosity towards the Germans and felt bad for the German children. Meyer was discharged at Fort Meade, Maryland in May 1947 as a T5 [Annotator’s Note: technician fifth grade]. While he was at Fort Meade, he worked in the finance department and handled per diems for servicemen.

[Annotator’s Note: There is talking in the background throughout this segment.] After William Meyer got out of the service, he took advantage of the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment]. He attended Ohio State University [Annotator’s Note: in Columbus, Ohio] and studied dairy technology. After two years, he dropped out of school because he had a bad attitude and was not ready to be a civilian. He eventually went to work for his father at a dairy. He suffered from nightmares after the war. He married his wife in 1951 and they had twins not long after. He used the G.I. Bill to buy his first home. He believes that the G.I. Bill helped many servicemen. His father was a World War 1 [Annotator's Note: World War 1, global war originating in Europe; 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918] veteran and did not like the idea of the G.I. Bill. He had many memorable experiences during World War 2, especially seeing dead G.Is. [Annotator's Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier] stacked like firewood in a barn. He will also always remember when he stepped on the mine which injured his leg. Meyer has no regrets about serving and would do it again if he had to. The war made him more tolerant of people and to be less critical. Meyer is proud of his service. He believes Americans appreciate the veterans of World War 2 because he is often thanked for his service. Meyer believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and that we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations.